Unit to educate on producing biodiesel safely

The 55-gallon barrels of toxic chemicals and oil made residents of a southwest Phoenix community wonder if their neighbor was making methamphetamine in the garage.

They alerted authorities, who later uncovered an unregulated biodiesel-fuel factory. The chemicals used to heat and process used cooking oil into a green energy solution sat right next to electric sockets, a garage-door opener and other possible ignition points just beneath a child's bedroom.

Phoenix fire officials said the incident is an example of a Valley-wide trend of residents using chemicals like methanol and lye, the same ingredients in methamphetamine, to create cheap diesel fuel as simply as demonstrated on YouTube.

Because there is little oversight on biodiesel "home brewers," Mayor Phil Gordon on Friday announced the fire department will partner with other municipal offices on a biodiesel task force to help educate residents on the hazards of skirting permits, codes and existing regulations.

Gordon and Phoenix Fire Chief Bob Khan said the task force is designed to bring residents in compliance to produce biodiesel without accidentally triggering an explosion.

"It's to make firefighters aware of where it's being produced and if it's produced safely," said Gordon, who added that Phoenix fire staff recently urged the creation of a biodiesel task force.

Some biodiesel home brewers improperly store chemicals or heat their fuel in used water heaters, methods that could lead to explosions, flash fires or chemical burns.

Joe McElvaney, a Phoenix fire protection engineer, said the city requires a permit to handle the flammable and combustible materials used in biodiesel. But many home brewers ignore zoning regulations and waste-disposal requirements.

"If they want to make biodiesel, we'll help them any way we can," McElvaney said. "But Phoenix fire is just one piece of that puzzle."

In the past, local restaurants had to pay for spent french-fry oil to be picked up. Now, coalitions of Valley restaurants sell the waste for a profit to biodiesel co-ops.

Gene Leach, a northeast Valley Montessori school founder who also founded Dynamite Biofuels Co-Op, said his family runs everything from his wife's Mercedes diesel SUV to recreational quads on homemade biodiesel for about $1.50 per gallon.

Leach talked to fire inspectors and Maricopa County Health Services to comply with regulations. Like other Valley biodiesel producers, he said local governments should consider building stronger partnerships with groups like his to avoid limiting those who produce biodiesel responsibly.

"The technology is new enough that in terms of government dealing with the home-brew community and co-ops, no one really knows what to do with us," he said.

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